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How Le'Veon Bell, franchise tag affects the Steelers' offseason

Updated March 5, 2018 at 11:42 AM;Posted March 5, 2018 at 6:00 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell is set to be franchise tagged by Tuesday at 4 p.m. Here, Bell warms up in some stylish gloves before the Steelers' opener against the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 17, 2017. Barry Reeger | Special to PennLive

That's the NFL deadline for tag-eligible players. If they don't, they have until the same time on March 12 until other teams can start negotiating with Bell, who would be an unrestricted free agent, and until the same time on March 14 before he can be signed by another team.

But for Bell to get tagged by 4 p.m. March 6, some Steelers need to lose their jobs or have their contracts restructured by March 14, the start of the 2018 league year. It's quite possible that multiple players would be involved.

Correction: A previous version of this post stated that roster cuts and contract adjustments would have to happen before the tag deadline. That is not true. Cap compliance doesn't come into play until March 14.

Because as soon as the league year turns, assuming the team uses an exclusive tag, that one-year, $14.54 million deal hits the team's salary cap.

The Steelers only have $5,921,024 of projected cap room, according to OverTheCap.com, meaning they would need to clear a little more than $8.6 million to keep Bell on the tag. His cap hit could be reduced by the signing of a long-term deal, which is the stated preference of both parties, but tagging him beforehand forces major moves from the team on either or both of Monday or Tuesday.

Again, this doesn't all have to be done through cuts. And even released players could be re-signed on cheaper contracts or rework their deals without hitting the open market.

But at time of writing, the Steelers need to franchise tag Bell before Tuesday at 4 to guarantee he doesn't become a free agent in a week. And in that week, they need to make significant cuts to their cap figure.

If Pittsburgh lets Bell go, running back becomes a priority in one or both of free agency and the draft.